2016 Iowa Corn 300 Analysis: 3 Things We Learned

The 2016 Iowa Corn 300 was a showcase for Josef Newgarden and a stunner for Andretti Autosport. Here are three things we learned from Sunday’s Verizon IndyCar Series race.

1. Newgarden has made the leap from potential to actual star

Remember when we were all waiting for Newgarden to break out? That seems like a lifetime ago. The Ed Carpenter Racing driver had a huge season in 2015, notching his first two IndyCar race wins and being one of the five people in championship contention heading into the season finale at Sonoma.

The way he dominated the field at Iowa proved that last year was not a fluke. Newgarden had been driving steadily better all season, with a third-place finish in the 2016 Indianapolis 500 among seven Top 10 results going into Sunday. It seemed only a matter of time until he found Victory Lane again and he did so in impressive fashion.

With the Iowa Corn 300 win, Newgarden has now vaulted himself from fifth to second in the IndyCar championship standings – and erased any doubt that he will be a huge part not just in the future of this league, but the present.

2. Juan Pablo Montoya should avoid the state of Iowa

Maybe Juan Pablo Montoya did something to Iowa that we don’t know about, but it really does not like him. For the second year in a row the Iowa Corn 300 ruined Montoya’s day in a spectacular fashion.

On lap 179 at Iowa Speedway, Montoya’s No. 2 Team Penske car unexpectedly slowed in Turn 2, knocking him out of the race. He wound up finishing 20th.

That follows the 2015 race, where Montoya had an early mechanical failure that also made him exit early. That time he came home 24th, and it was that dismal finish that marked the turning of his season from championship favorite to narrowly losing the title to Scott Dixon on a tiebreaker.

In Montoya’s three IndyCar starts at Iowa he’s never finished higher than 16th. Who knows what it is about the short oval that stumps him, but maybe in 2017 he should consider bringing a good luck charm. It certainly couldn’t get much worse for him in Newton.

3. We can stop writing off Scott Dixon

Speaking of Dixon fans and commentators alike haven’t given him much of a chance at going for a fifth IndyCar championship. It’s true that the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing driver has had some terrible breaks in 2016, most recently getting bounced out of the race within the first 10 laps at Road America.

But the Iowa Corn 300 gave Dixon his first podium finish since Long Beach and his eighth Top 10 result in ten rounds. The New Zealander is still fourth in the IndyCar league standings; he’s 88 points back but just one victory can erase a large portion of that.

And of the tracks remaining on the schedule that were also part of the 2015 campaign – Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Pocono, Texas and Sonoma – Dixon did not finish outside of the Top 10 at any of them. In fact, he won two of them (Texas and Sonoma), one of which was a double points race.

So while Dixon has had a bumpy ride so far in 2016, to count him out would be a mistake. He’s well within striking distance and as IndyCar fans know, Dixon has a way of being consistent when many others falter. Will he be able to roar back and threaten Simon Pagenaud? We’ll find out soon enough.

What was your biggest takeaway from the 2016 Iowa Corn 300? Let us know in the comments.